The Painted Hall at Greenwich

The Painted Hall at The Royal Naval College is a major attraction in Greenwhich. This is one of the domed buildings on the left side of central courtyard. On the right is the Chapel of St Peters.

This great baroque masterpiece was painted by Sir James Thornbill and it took him 19 years to complete. The Painted hall is a masterpiece of decoration and was completed in 1719. This hall was used as a mess for the Royal Navy. Lord Nelson was laid in state here in 1805.

Greenwich Town

Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and giving its name to Greenwich Mean Time and Greenwich Meridian ( O Longitude). Greenwich is located in South East London on the South Bank of the River Thames.

Greenwich Town was the site of the Royal Palace from the 15th century and was the birthplace of several members of the House of Tudor including King Henry the VIII and Elizabeth I. This palace was destroyed during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital which subsequently became the Royal Naval College in 1873. However in 1998 , these buildings became a part of the Greenwich Foundation.

Old Royal Naval College from the Banks of the River Thames

View of the Chapel Entrance

London as seen from The London Eye

Birds eye view of London taken from the London Eye capsule at the top.
The River Thames
The British Parliament Building
London Skyline
Another view of the British Parliament
These pictures have been taken with a Nikon D-80 camera fitted with a AF-S Nikkor 18-135 mm lens.

London Eye

As a tourist, no visit to London is complete without a trip on the London Eye. Towering at a height of 135 metres, it is the tallest cantilevered observation wheel in the world and attracts over 3 million visitors a year. Built in 2000, the London Eye has 32 capsules representing the 32 Burroughs of London.

These High Tech capsules have heating and cooling and bench seating in the centre. Each capsule can hold 25 people who can move around in the capsule. The wheel takes approx 30 minutes to complete one revolution
The Wheel resembles a huge spoked wheel and uses two types of cables which are similar to bicycle spokes and stretch across the wheel.View of the British Parliament from the London Eye
The river Thames as seen from the London Eye
Anita and Utsav enjoying the ride

Windsor - More pictures

Statue of Queen Victoria on the crossing of road leading to the main gate of Windsor Castle.
Street in front of the castle
View of the castle from the main gate
Enjoying a drink at the local pub
Utsav will remember this pub for being refused a drink for being underage ( He is 21 and the legal drinking age in the UK is 18) !!

Windsor Royal Shopping ( Windsor Railway Station)

The Windsor Central Station is one of the 2 stations serving Windsor . This station has now been converted into a tourist shopping centre known as THE WINDSOR ROYAL SHOPPING though a small portion still functions as a railway station.

Entrance to The Windsor Royal Shopping The station is situated opposite the main entrance of the Windsor Castle on the high street. Inside the Windsor Royal Shopping you will also find pubs and eating places.
Pub inside the complex

That's me posing with Sanjiv

The Crooked House of Windsor

One building that you cannot miss as you walk down the road in front of Windsor Castle and turn left from the Statue of Queen Victoria is THE CROOKED HOUSE OF WINDSOR. This building is historically know as the Market Cross House and was built in 1592. This was however destroyed in early 1600 because of a dispute on ownership. Shortly however a new building came up on this site.

In 1715, this new building needed to be restructured. However because of the unseasoned green oak that was used, the building acquired it's famous tilt. The crooked house is said to have a secret underground passage to the Castle which it is rumoured was used by King Charles and his mistress for their meetings. This passage is now blocked and cannot be accessed from either side.

The Crooked House of Windsor is now an English Tea House where you can choose from an wide

range of traditional British Food.

View of the Crooked House from the front

The Mayoral Building next to the crooked house.

UK - Windsor Castle

The Windsor Castle is the Royal Residence of her Majesty, the Queen of England. It is the oldes ( over 900 years ) and largest occupied castle in the world. This is a large and imposing building with numerous staterooms.

Holiday in UK - Bristol

London is a great place for a holiday in summer. We landed at Heathrow on a rainy wet evening and were lucky the next day when it cleared up and the sun came out bright and the Sky's were clear. Sanjiv and Ranjila took us for a drive in the countryside towards Bristol.

View of the countryside on way to Bristol

A short halt to admire the landscape

Sail Boat on the river Avon. There are a no of cruises that one could go on. These include trips to Bath and around the harbour. You can also find boats that operate as floating restaurants.
An Old Anchor on the harbour
The Clifton Suspension bridge on the Avon Gorge is the symbol of the city of Bristol. Built in 1864, this bridge attracts visitors from all over the world.

A view of the Clifton bridge from the entry point

Buying Strawberries by the roadside

Sanjiv's Place in Wembley Park where we stayed